SC's CNG order hits commuters

TNNApr 8, 2002, 11.17am IST

new delhi: chaos prevailed on delhi roads on monday morning as commuters were struck by the absence of over 6,000 buses. the delhi government's move to close schools in the capital and put on the road 1,000 more cng buses did not seem to help matters much. ankit kapoor, a resident of shahadra, is cursing the bus operators. sharma, who works for a private concern at nehru place, was stranded in the ito crossing for a good 45 minutes on monday morning. the few buses – that were plying on the roads – were dangerously packed with desperate commuters hanging on to the side and back of the vehicles. auto rickshaws, meanwhile, made hay charging at will. the bus operators' decision to stay off the roads was prompted by friday's supreme court verdict to impose a fine on diesel bus operators for not converting to cng. according to the court's direction, diesel bus operators will have to pay rs 1,000 a day, if they continue to ply from saturday. the supreme court had observed that diesel buses were causing huge harm to public health. the number of cancer cases was going up dramatically because of air pollution. children in large numbers were asthmatic in delhi and other cites like kolkata. the court also blamed the bharatiya janata party and the union government for this crisis. it said despite all the evidence of the harm being done to public health, the vajpayee government and the union petroleum ministry had chosen to protect the polluter and ignore the ordinary citizen. at all the busy intersections, scores of hapless travellers were seen stranded. if the situation on saturday was serious, by monday it had turned grave. this was because many of the government and private offices which were closed on saturday, opened on monday. many office goers were seen trying to hitch rides; the luckier ones managed car-pools. with many office goers who usually use public transport forced to bring out their vehicles, there was heavier traffic than usual – often leading to skirmishes. there was a crowd of at least 50 people waiting at the ito crossing; the scenario was exactly the same in the aiims crossing. even the 1,200 private buses and 2,500 rtvs plying on the roads could not provide any succour to the commuters. the government, meanwhile, was working on several steps to ensure normal bus services as soon as possible. as the first measure, it will place an order for 1,000 cng buses. the first of these will be on the road by june 1. till then, it will juggle private and the delhi transport corporation's (dtc) buses using cng. the numbers add up as follows: 2,200 dtc cng buses, 2,500 rtvs and mini buses besides 1,200 private cng buses. state transport minister ajay maken said the government would also request the supreme court on monday to waive the fine and allow the diesel buses till then. meanwhile, private operators were putting the blame for delaying implementation of the apex court's order squarely on the government. ''we were given to understand that euro-ii diesel vehicles would be permitted,'' said shyam lal gola, president of delhi bus ekta manch. ''we continued to ply diesel buses on the basis of assurances given by the government.'' operators also want the penalties imposed by the supreme court — rs 500 per day from february 1 to april 4 and rs 1,000 every day thereafter — to be either waived or paid by the government.